Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Weaving: remind me again why I started?

So, weaving backstory (or rather update, for those who have been reading Hugs for a while): I acquired a loom thinking I'd use up a lot of yarn faster, then discovered having it just made me want to acquire more yarn. Fast.

Eye candy alert:

New Discoveries

1/ Weaving with the Ashford Knitter's Loom really is most convenient when sitting at a table, no matter how appealing it is to think of collapsing into a comfy chair and using pillows to prop up the back end of the loom.

2/ I'm pretty sure I will never be so adept at weaving as to not need to look at what I'm doing. I may eventually be able to stop checking that I've got the sides coming in without huge gaping loops hanging off them, or that I've run the yarn across without accidentally going the wrong way over or under the warping threads, but it looks like you always have to look when you're beating that yarn into the correct position. And the rows go so fast, you're always looking at that. All of which adds up to Time To Acquire Audiobooks. Because for some reason I do not have a lineup of people who want to sit and entertain me while I sit at a loom.

3/ That whole 'leave space between the yarns for them to grow when blocking' thing appears not to apply to superwash yarn.

or to put it another way,

GAH!!!

Today's Happy Story

I cut the fringes off my first three scarves on the weekend, right after they'd finished drying from their first big block.

I started like this:

and ended like this:

How did I ever survive without a rotary cutter?

Here is the sequence of pretty pictures (weaving first, then fringes):

Today's Tale of Woe

You can leave now if this sort of thing upsets your day.

It's about the blue and black scarf, people. This is the only one I set up with the intention to give it to a specific person who has been especially kind and helpful to me. It's the one I want to not mess up. And guess what? It is so messed up.

Here it is on the loom looking halfway normal:

And here it is with a more obvious example of why it's not. It's not possible in this shot to see the black loops on either side where I left the weaving too loose, or the place where I missed some threads, but it is clear, I think, that I just could not get the yarns to snug up close enough:

Off the loom, it looks nice and drapey:

Except for when it shows off that missed thread:

(hint: it's the darkish line on the left; not so stark here, but in person? oh yes. and let's not forget the prominent black loops along the whole side here.)

I'm not sure what the issue is, but I suspect it's the combination of very fine laceweight with sport weight in a contrasting colour. This does not bode well for my next few project ideas, to say nothing of what's on the loom at this very moment. Which is, in case you were wondering, fingering weight with more of the same black sport weight.

So, that's what I'm facing today... or rather, avoiding: weaving as fast as I can on the current scarf so as to have time to make a replacement for the blue and black one. In spite of having a new Audiobook (more on that another day) I will be working on... I don't know... socks?

1 comment:

As with most of the stuff I weave or knit, I find that in the end, when it's wrapped around someone's neck, the little mistakes are difficult to find!

Your work looks great! As for the selvedges...I recommend finding your rhythm, and not fussing about the edges too much. Make sure your yarn has enough room to make an angle of about 30 degrees, pull snug but not tight and then beat. You'll be amazed at how much faster it'll go and how much you'll have nice even edges. You're going to have some draw-in no matter what you do, so don't bother with that...just enjoy the process!